


The War of the Cards

by JayTyHeyBye



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Affairs, Brothers America & Canada (Hetalia), Cardverse, F/M, Fire Emblem reference, Heavy Angst, M/M, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 10:46:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11553591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayTyHeyBye/pseuds/JayTyHeyBye
Summary: Today was the day that everyone knew had been coming for quite some time.The Spades and the Clubs had been at war for years now, but this was it. The final fight. Both leaders had suffered, both kingdoms were slowly cracking beneath their leaders, those who promised them protection and love.The Clubs had suffered more than anyone. Their leader, especially.(Cardverse Au!)





	The War of the Cards

Today was the day that everyone knew had been coming for quite some time. 

The Spades and the Clubs had been at war for years now, but this was it. The final fight. Both leaders had suffered, both kingdoms were slowly cracking beneath their leaders, those who promised them protection and love. 

The Clubs had suffered more than anyone. Their leader, especially.

Ivan, the King of Clubs, stood in front of his army. They were clad in all green armour, Ivan gripping tightly at the staff at his side. The red tip was glowing slightly, and Ivan would tense his fingers around the handle every few minutes. 

Beside him was Elizabeta, a sword tightly in her grasp. When she had expressed interest in fighting, Ivan had forged her a sword himself. Though they did not love each other, they were still due to be married. It had been arranged decades ago, and neither really had a choice. Ivan wasn’t a stupid man. He knew Elizabeta was in love with his jack, Roderich. He had caught them stealing glances and soft touches when they thought Ivan wasn’t looking. They still had appearances to maintain, though. Ivan was King, and Elizabeta was to be his Queen. 

Looking out over the battlefield, Ivan forced himself to stand his guard. His love was on the other side of the war, and private meetings were getting harder to keep up, and secret letters were getting harder to send. With Yao being on the side of the Spades, everything about him and Ivan was forbidden. The moment Yao met his gaze, Ivan forced himself to look away. They had to fight each other, they both were well aware. There was a large chance Ivan wouldn’t leave the battlefield alive, ad both parties knew this. They had said their soft, tearful goodbyes during their last meeting. Alfred had every intent to kill Ivan. Ivan was getting tired of fighting back all the time.

Ivan was brought out of his train of thought when Roderich came to stand on his other side, reaching up to adjust his glasses.

“An inside source says that Mr. Kirkland has been practicing his dark magic, your highness.”

Ivan hummed, and gave Roderich a small smile, though Roderich did not return it.

“I am not surprised! I am excited to see what he has planned.” 

As Ivan turned to look straight ahead at the empty field in front of him again, he saw Roderich leaving out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t need to look to see that Roderich was moving around him, coming to stand beside Elizabeta. 

Ivan pretended that he didn’t see Elizabeta tangle her fingers up with Roderich’s. This could be their last day alive. He should let them be together, even for just a moment.

Across the battlefield stood the Spades. King Alfred stood front and centre, his Queen and his Jack on either side of him. Alfred had chosen a sword as his weapon, and Ivan couldn’t help but chuckle when he noticed that Alfred was actively polishing it while they waited for the fight to begin. Maybe he was just trying to get off the bloodstains, Ivan thought.

His gaze moved over to Alfred’s left side, where his Queen stood. Arthur was standing tall beside the King, dressed in all blue and purple, fiddling with a small, wooden wand in his hands that he had most likely crafted himself. Arthur almost looked bored. He kept glancing at Alfred as if he expected him to say when the battle was to begin. Ivan watched as Arthur looked out over the crowd, and he saw his body tense.

Arthur was staring directly at the King of Diamonds, Francis Bonnefoy. The Diamonds were allied alongside the Spades, though King Francis had made sure they were not actively fighting. War looked bad in a Kingdom, and Francis prided himself on his entire Kingdom liking him. 

Though they tried to keep their affair a secret, pretty much everyone knew other than King Alfred. Arthur would journey over to the Diamond Kingdom more often than not, always telling Alfred he was going to discuss something with the Diamond Queen, Erika, but of course that was not the case. In fact, Erika was actually helping to further their affair. Though she and Francis were happily wed, Erika was well aware of Francis’ devotion to Arthur. She would guide Arthur through their yellow castle while they made smalltalk, and the moment Arthur had been slipped inside Francis’ bedroom, Erika would hide herself away with her brother, Basch, in the library and read until they had finished, then escort Arthur out of the castle. Erika never failed to notice the blush in Arthur’s cheeks, or the smile that never once seemed to leave his face after his meetings with King Francis. 

Erika was just happy that she could give Francis some peace of mind during this massive war. One night, after one too many glasses of wine, Francis had told her about Matthew.

His son, his only son, was fighting on the side of the Spades. Francis had found Matthew when he was only a baby, having been abandoned by his previous family. 

Francis had fallen in love with the child immediately, taking him in as the Crowned Prince of the Diamond. It wasn’t until the old King of Spades came to his door, demanding for his son back, that Francis realized he was Prince Alfred’s little brother. 

Matthew had been taken from him by force. Francis didn’t have a choice. Matthew was only a child when he was taken back, and it wasn’t long after that that Prince Alfred became King Alfred, and Matthew became the Boy Prince, due to take over if anything were to happen to the King and Queen. 

Francis missed his Mattie more than anything. He and Arthur were the only things that caused him to side the Diamond’s along with the Spades. That night, Erika had promised him that when this war was over, they’d find a way to bring Matthew home to his father. The pair shared a hug, and that was that.

Now, here they were. When Francis broke his gaze away from Arthur and looked over to Matthew, he felt his heart cracking in his chest.

The little Prince was standing behind his brother, a bow gripped tightly in his hand, a cluster of arrows strapped to his back. Matthew looked tired. His eyes were void of any and all emotion, and Francis wanted nothing more than to run over and pull his little boy into his arms, hear that laugh he so longed to hear. 

Francis forced himself to tear his gaze away from his son. Directly across from him he made eye contact with the other Non Fighting party, the King of Hearts, Ludwig Beilschmidt. Francis envied Ludwig. While he was married to the Queen, Kiku, he was very publicly seeing his Jack, Feliciano. He was the King of Hearts, after all. The Kingdom of Love, as Francis liked to put it. While they were Allied with the Clubs, they rarely ever sent them supplies. They had agreed to fight if it was absolutely necessary, though Ludwig had made it perfectly clear they preferred not to. Francis and Ludwig shared a knowing nod. They both knew this was it. There was going to be one winner today, and even if both parties were forced into fighting, Francis and Ludwig had made a pact not to attack each other. Only the Spades and the Clubs. The last thing they needed was more bloodshed on their hands. 

Ludwig glanced to his left when he felt Feliciano’s slender fingers intertwining with his own, and he fought back a smile. Feliciano was smiling without care, and he squeezed Ludwig’s hand. 

“Kiku?” He asked after a moment, and he smiled wider when Kiku turned to look at the Jack.

“Yes, Feliciano?”

“You look very nice today! Sweet, like a candy!” He said cheerfully, and Kiku gave the boy a gentle smile.

“Thank you, Feliciano.” 

Those were the four Kingdoms of the Cards. The Clubs, the Spades, the Diamonds, and the Hearts. Together they all formed a giant square surrounding the battlefield, the ground beneath them checkered like a chess board, though there was grass and flowers breaking through some of the cracks in the tile. 

Everyone fell silent when a red puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the battlefield, and everyone looked to see the Joker standing in the middle, looking around with a wide smile on his face. Though he was the oldest brother, and should be the King of Hearts, he had surrendered his position of Royalty shortly after his father had passed. Ludwig had always been a better leader than Gilbert. Besides, Gil loved to stir up chaos. 

The red eyed man looked around, smirking when he saw everyone at the ready. His word was final. If he said go, the battle would commence. He could easily have them standing there forever, if he wanted. 

“Ladies and gentleman, sinners and saints!” Gilbert shouted, his voice booming loud enough so it could be heard by all, he rubbed his hands together, and as he looked around, he caught a certain Prince of Spades staring at him intently.

Gilbert couldn’t help but smile. He blew the boy a kiss, and when he did, Matthew heard a whisper of, ‘be safe’ in his ear. It was enough to make the blond blush. He loved Gilbert, he really did, even though Jokers were sworn to a life of loneliness. 

Gilbert cleared his throat, and with another puff of smoke, he had vanished. Everyone heard his voice, though.

“The battle may commence!” he shouted, and for a moment, no one moved.

Arthur stirred slightly from beside Alfred, his grip tightening on his wand.

“Now?”

“Wait.” Alfred mumbled, though when he felt Matthew’s hand on his shoulder, he hesitated.

“Al-Alfie, you don’t have to do this.”

Alfred shrugged his brothers hand off, shooting him an irritated glared that caused Matthew to shrink back slightly.

“Yes, we do, Mattie. You know we do.” 

Turning back to the fight about to start in front of him, Alfred took a few steps forward, flashing a smile that was meant for Ivan specifically.

“Come now, Braginsky! I’ll let you have the first attack. A King is nothing if not polite.” Alfred bowed, and despite how far away they were, he heard Ivan’s chuckle.

“You need to open your eyes, Mr. Jones!” Ivan called, and it was then that Alfred realized the top of Ivan’s staff was glowing ever and ever brighter. “Your power has gone to your head, da? You cannot even see!” 

There was sudden screaming from behind him, and Alfred turned to see that some of the ground had opened up under his men. They were shrieking, desperately trying to keep from falling in to the hellfire below. He saw Matthew grab Yao from falling in, and then Arthur grab Matthew by the collar, dragging him back, quickly waving his wand in an attempt to close up the hole before anyone else fell in. 

Over by the Diamond’s, Francis had begun forward the second he saw Matthew almost slip into the hole. Erika’s hand wrapped around his wrist, and when he turned to look down at her, he could see the sympathy in her eyes.

“If you cross the line, we have to fight too. They’ll be alright. Arthur won’t let anything happen to him, Francis.” 

When Alfred turned back around to address Ivan, he was momentarily taken aback by the entire army now running at him. Alfred readied his sword, blue eyes narrowing in anger.

“Arthur, now!” He shouted, and when Arthur didn’t immediately react, making sure Yao and Matthew were unharmed, Alfred released a low growl from the back of his throat. “ARTHUR, NOW!”

He heard Arthur mumble the curse under his breath before a wand was being raised, and almost straightaway, the clear sky became cloudy, and enormous chunks of ice began falling out of them, some landing on and crushing the opposing army.

The moment he heard the first scream, Ivan stopped running. He turned to look back out on his army just in time to see the second chunk of ice land on a small group of knights, crushing them instantly. 

This wasn’t going to be a pretty fight.

 

Hours passed, and both armies had diminished significantly. Alfred was winning, however. Ivan knew he was winning. He was stood in the middle of all the fighting, looking out at the chaos around him. When his eyes landed on Elizabeta, he felt a pang in his chest.

He was over to her side in 5 long strides, and after she had stabbed the man she was fighting through the throat (gruesomely enough to make even Ivan shudder), he grabbed her arm, pulling her back slightly.

“Ivan? What are you doing?”

“Go find Roderich. Get as far away from here as you can.” 

Elizabeta’s green eyes widened, and confusion spread across her face.

“I’m not leaving you here.”

Ivan gave the girl a sad smile, pressing a kiss against her forehead. 

“It is not a request, Eliza.”

He pulled back, only to see Elizabeta staring at him intently. She reluctantly nodded, and Ivan released his grip on her arm.

“Go take shelter somewhere hidden, before it is too late, da?”

All she could do was nod again. They watched each other for a moment more, until Elizabeta moved passed him, disappearing into the crowd in order to run and find Roderich.

Ivan hoped they could get away from here in time. After all, if the King of Clubs was about to fall, the Kingdom would look to the Queen to rebuild, she needed to be safe. Maybe Roderich could become the new King. Ivan smiled to himself. That would be nice. Elizabeta would be happy. 

Adjusting his grip on his staff, Ivan knew it was time. he’d been avoiding Alfred for the last few hours. It was due time they faced each other.

It didn’t take long to find the King of Spades. He had stuck close to Yao, Matthew, and Arthur, all of them fighting alongside each other. It almost seemed choreographed. 

The second Alfred’s eyes locked on Ivan, a treacherous smile spread across his face. He was running at him and swinging his sword before Ivan really had time to react, but he brought his staff up to quickly stop the sword from lodging itself into his head. Looking passed Alfred, Ivan could see that Yao had stopped fighting, and was now watching the two carefully. Matthew and Arthur had stopped as well. In fact, almost everyone on the battlefield had frozen, and was watching this happen. 

Ivan managed to push Alfred back far enough so he could collect himself. The staff in his hand morphed into a sword, and when he saw Alfred glare, Ivan shot him a smirk. They were at each others throats again in an instant, but one small flick of a wand from Arthur had Ivan staggering back, a stray, glowing arrow lodging itself in his shoulder. 

The King of Clubs fought back a groan, falling down to one knee. 

When he looked up, Alfred was standing in front of him, his grin never faltering. He simply took a few steps forward, clicking his tongue at Ivan.

“Did you really think you could win this?” He snapped, and Ivan could see the fire in Alfred’s eyes. The power really had gotten to him.

All Ivan could do was respond with a breathy laugh.

“A man can dream, yes?”

“This seems more like a nightmare to you though, doesn’t it?” Alfred snorted, and Ivan couldn’t find it in himself to answer. 

Ivan took the opportunity to look up at Alfred, though Ivan’s usual smile was gone. He was bleeding through his cloak, green turning to red, and he had no energy remaining. This was it. 

“Any last words, your majesty?” Alfred beamed, and Ivan glanced over his shoulder at Yao, who was clearly trying his damnedest not to race forward and interfere.  


“I’m so sorry, _dorogaya_.” (Darling)

With this, Ivan saw Yao bring a hand to his mouth, though Yao couldn’t bear to look away. Ivan could only give his lover a reassuring smile, and a gentle nod. 

“Very well.” Alfred muttered, readying his grip on his sword. “You will die fighting for your cause, and I will be the hero, protecting his homeland!” 

Ivan flinched as Alfred swung down as hard as he could possibly manage, though the pain never came. It was the sudden screaming that caused him to open his eyes. 

Francis had let out an inhumane scream from across the battlefield. Arthur had let out a yell as well, having been reaching out along with Yao to try and prevent what was happening, but it was too late.

Matthew had left his safe place from beside Arthur and had thrown himself in front of Ivan, so Ivan did not get hurt. 

Everything in that moment seemed to move in slow motion. Ivan watched as Alfred realized what he’d done, he watched as the anger faded from his enemies eyes, and terror filled them instead. Matthew had suddenly hit the ground near where Ivan was kneeling, and he could see the tear in his blue clothing, the red liquid that was his blood beginning to seep out of the large gash in his chest.

It was Alfred’s scream that seemed to break Ivan’s heart the most. 

The King of Spades dropped his sword, racing over to where his brother lay, kneeling down and gathering him in his arms. 

“Matthew? Mattie, please, speak to me.” Alfred pleaded, his hands shaking like mad as he attempted to cradle his brother in his arms.

Violet, tear filled eyes opened wide enough to look up at his brother, and Alfred let out a trembling sob at the smile his baby brother gave him.

“A-Alfie?”

“I’m-I’m right here, Mattie. Stay with me, okay?”

“Your sword,” Matthew mumbled, his head lulling onto Alfred’s shoulder as his eyes fell shut, “lay...lay it down? For me.”

Alfred seemed stunned. He pulled his brother closer to his chest, rocking his body back and forth lightly.

“Save your voice, Mattie,” he mumbled, though he turned to look at Arthur with a glare, who was standing with wide eyes, “help him!” he shouted, his normally strong voice breaking. 

“I...I cannot. When I enchanted your sword...I can’t heal wounds from it. I’m...I’m sorry.” 

“Al-Alfie,” Matthew whispered again, and Alfred turned his full attention to the dying boy in his arms, “The Spades need...they need more from you. Not just your strength-” Matthew shifted slightly, grimacing, and Alfred let out a sob, “what we need is-is caring, and a-a warm hand.” Matthew’s bloody hand grabbed ahold of Alfred’s gloved one, pressing it lightly against his own cheek, smiling softly as he leaned against it. 

Alfred couldn’t find it in himself to speak. He was cradling his heart in his hands, his Mattie. The same little brother he had tried to protect all this time. His best friend.  


“That...that is the way.” Matthew murmured, letting go of Alfred’s hand so he could reach up to lightly press his hand against Alfred’s cheek, brushing away one of the tears. He gave the King a smile, and the King used all of his energy to return it, for Mattie’s sake. “Try to be...be at peace.” 

The hand against his cheek fell limp, and Alfred felt Matthew sag against him. There was nothing he could do now. Matthew was gone.

The scream that Alfred let out was one that would haunt Ivan for the rest of his existence. Ivan turned to see Francis sprinting towards them, tears pouring down his face. When he was close enough Arthur grabbed ahold of him, holding the King of Diamonds around the waist. Francis’ legs gave out and he crumbled to the ground, Arthur going down with him. He held the wailing man to his chest, all while Francis was mumbling, ‘Mattie, not my Mattie, please God, not my Mattie’, over and over, while Arthur attempted to quietly shush him, though he had his own tears rolling down his cheeks. 

As Alfred slowly lay Matthew down flat on the ground, Gilbert had materialized with a puff of red smoke. The Joker was on his knees in an instant, gathering the lifeless body up into his arms, and Ivan could hear Gilbert mumbling sweet nothings into his ear, pleading for his Birdie to come back to him. 

 

In a way, Ivan had been correct. The war did end that day. Technically, the Spades had won. Ivan and Alfred signed a peace treaty, though Alfred remained silent the entire time. There was no light, no will to live in his eyes. Everything he had been fighting for seemed to be forgotten. Ivan had to admit, he felt bad for him. Matthew died taking a hit meant for him. 

All the Kings and Queens were there. The Jacks had accompanied them as well. Everyone was seated around a table. Arthur had made sure that he, Alfred, and Yao sat as close to the Diamonds as possible. Arthur and Francis held hands under the table, Arthur’s thumb lightly rubbing circles into Francis’ knuckles. Francis had taken Matthew’s death hard. The only thing that kept him sane was Arthur and Erika. Arthur spent almost all his time over at Francis’ castle in the Diamond Kingdom, sometimes leaving for days at a time. 

Feliciano was quite literally sitting on Ludwig’s lap as they watched Ivan and Alfred sign the Treaty of the Cards. Feli looked bored, and Ludwig was frowning. He hated that someone had to die for a Treaty of peace to be signed. 

After Ivan signed, he slid it across the room to Alfred. Ivan felt Elizabeta pat him lightly on the back, though he couldn’t take his eyes off Alfred as he signed. His hand was trembling as he gripped the pen and after he’d finished signing, he placed the pen on the table and buried his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs. The man had murdered his baby brother. Of course he would be a wreck.

Ivan slowly rose from the table, making his way around it until he was standing beside Alfred. He placed a large hand on Alfred’s shaking shoulder, clearing his throat. When Alfred looked up, his eyes red and bloodshot, Ivan gave him a reassuring smile.

“Come on a walk with me, da? I am sure you’d love the flower garden.” 

After a moment, Alfred pushed himself to his feet, and allowed Ivan to lead him out of the room.

It would take a long time, but maybe they could learn to get along, for the sake of their Kingdoms, and in memory of Matthew.  
Maybe.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to follow my Tumblr, @subject-to-feels, where this was originally a prompt I got sent!


End file.
